


Summertime and Swords

by runningwater



Series: Feysand Things [12]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25797166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runningwater/pseuds/runningwater
Summary: One, sometimes apartment complexes will flat out forget to tell you that they’re sending someone over from the fire department to check your fire extinguishers.Two, no matter how bad ass a person thinks they are, a naked person swinging a sword at them will knock them off both physically and mentally.However, the fireman was very nice about it and accepted my apology.
Relationships: Feyre Archeron/Rhysand
Series: Feysand Things [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1607200
Comments: 20
Kudos: 100





	1. Feyre

**Author's Note:**

> Saw this story on tumblr (user: riverofwhispers) and had the urge to write Feysand SO strongly. I should be working on my series rn….

Summertime in Velaris was hot. Sweltering, humid, no relief to be found, **hot**.

Normally, the heat could be avoided by the air conditioning in every building, in every car, but this afternoon, my unit had decided to die out and I had no money to pay a repairman to come and fix it until Friday. So that meant sleeping naked with what little relief my ceiling fan can give me.

I had arrived home from an overnight guard shift at the gallery to an apartment that was well over 80 degrees. One look at my window unit told me that there was no way I could fix it myself. It had been working overtime against the summer heat and it shouldn’t have been a surprise to me that it decided to die right in the middle of the hot season.

Too tired to care until later, I stripped out of my polyester uniform, leaving it on the ground and collapsed onto my bed, kicking the sheets and covers completely off.

A sweaty, restless sleep soon claimed me, heat pressing in from every direction. Sweat soaked the sheet below me, matting down the hair on the nape of my neck. Somehow, despite the heat, darkness pulled me under.

Until the sound of a lock clicking open yanked me to consciousness.

My heart leaped into a thundering pound. Someone was breaking into my shitty, wrong side of town apartment.

I cursed myself for not investing in a stronger lock, something to keep out would-be intruders.

My bedroom door was closed, giving me a split second to decide.

My robe

or my sword.

Clattering on the other side of my wall drove me into action.

Grabbing the sword I had bought on a whim at a renaissance festival years ago (and had since kept by my bedside) I unsheathed it, letting the whine of steel fill me with courage.

With one final breath to steady me, I gripped the hilt in one hand and the door handle with the other.

 _No one fucks with my safety_ or _my paintings._

I yanked the door open, a battle cry like those from the movie Sparta spilling from my lips, and used the momentum from the door to propel myself forward into the living room.

A large black and red shape was all I was able to take in before I swung my sword at them.

The intruder let out a yelp as it collided with their side, the dull edge (it was only for show, not actual killing) was as good as a battering ram that sent them to the floor.

I gripped the hilt with both hands now and raised the sword over my shoulder, ready to deliver another blow should the intruder try to attack me. I wasn’t the type of person to beat someone while they were clearly down but I would take no chances.

That was when the big lettering on the back of their shirt came into focus.

_Velaris Fire Department_

The fiery rage in my veins turned into a frigid sludge.

The frozen sludge turned into red hot embarrassment as the fireman looked up at me.

In all my sweaty, naked, panicked glory, he took me in with wide, violet eyes framed by black lashes.

His mouth was open in shock, stretching the skin along those Greek god-like cheekbones taut.

_“Fuck.”_

The word escaped our mouths at the same time.

Mine was one of horror.

His was one of… awe? Not anger like I expected. Or surprise which would have made sense.

Had I not been already flushed from the heat and adrenaline; I would have turned beet red at that sweeping gaze.

I don’t blame him for looking. He had just been attacked by a crazy, naked woman with a sword. Humans are just not meant to look away from train wrecks.

My mouth opened and closed with probably a good impression of a fish on dry land. 

“Your landlord let me in so I could inspect your fire extinguisher,” he said, still not breaking his gaze with me. The words were quiet, distant, like he was not trying to scare off a wounded animal.

“Ah.” Was all I managed before I promptly turned on my heel, walked into my room, and shut my door with a gentle _click_.

 _ALL YOU COULD SAY WAS ‘AH’. ANYTHING WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER THAN_ FUCKING _‘AH’._

I needed to go back out there and apologize. Apologize to the very nice, very attractive, fireman that was just trying to do his job before he got attacked by a naked, crazy lady. Every time I thought about it, the situation just became worse.

In the calmest manner I could muster, I returned the sword to its sheath and swung my robe over my shoulders.

Standing before the door that would make me face my mortification, I stuck my arms into the sleeves and firmly tied the waist closed.

As opposed to ripping the door open like before, I swung it open slowly, trying to be as non-threatening as I could. _This poor man will have nightmares for months._

Stepping out, I could see he had not moved from the floor in the thirty seconds I had disappeared, shock still written across his features.

With as smooth and pleasant voice I could manage, I said, “Sorry about that, my landlord failed to inform me that they would be doing inspections.” The words felt stiff and formal in my mouth, but they were better than fucking ‘ah’.

The man whispered a small sounding, “I’m sorry,” and then slightly louder, “He told me that no one was home. I should have knocked.”

I grimaced. Typical of Gabe to not care or pay attention to his tenants. “Yeah, he does that sometimes.”

The man then got up from the floor. Before I had knocked him to the ground, all I could tell was that he was bigger than me. Now I could see that he stood well over six feet and outweighed me by almost fifty pounds of solid muscle. I had knocked this mass of a man to the ground with nothing than a cheap sword and my adrenaline. A man, who on a regular basis, probably walked into raging fires and back out again unscathed and carrying victims.

He must had read as much on my face because it was his turn to blush a deeper red and look away, scratching the back of his neck. He mumbled something I couldn’t hear before turning away.

“Um, sorry?”

“Where do you keep your fire extinguisher?”

“Oh,” I forced myself to walk on steady legs to my tiny kitchen, “Under the sink,” prying the small door open. I backed away, giving him the space to do the job he came here for.

The fireman had followed me and knelt on the ground in front of the cabinets. I watched from the corner of my eye. He pulled it out and fiddled with it for a few minutes, making checkmarks on the clipboard he brought with him and must have retrieved while my back was turned.

Those two minutes had to be the longest of my life, save for the seconds of what I have now dubbed _The Incident_.

When he was done, he replaced it and closed the cabinet, rising to his full height.

Up close, I could see that his eyes were a deep blue, not the original violet I thought they were, but they did have grayish-silver flecks in them.

I realized I was staring and averted my gaze. What happened today was enough embarrassment to last me a month. A year. The rest of my life.

“Um,” came from his mouth, “You have a good swing,” he mumbled.

“What? For a girl?” I couldn’t stop the barb escaping from my mouth. My shame was now turning into anger. Not at the poor fireman, but at my shitty landlord for not giving me a heads up.

“Oh! Uh, no—no,” he stuttered out, “Just like, in general.” He was now scratching the back of his neck again, looking away.

“Oh,” I said lamely. What else could I say to the hot fireman that I just beat the shit out of and gave him lifelong, psychological trauma?

“I’m Rhysand, by the way,” he offered a small piece of normalcy.

“Feyre. I’m sorry again for… before,” I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

“For bringing me down with spectacular sword moves?” a hint of humor entering his voice.

I jolted a bit at that, “Um, yeah.” I couldn’t look him in the eye. _Just let me die here and now._

“Well, I promise not to tell anyone if you promise not to tell the others at the station, they’d never let me live it down.”

I swung my head back towards him, meeting his gaze. He was offering me an easy out, one I certainly hadn’t earned.

My mouth twisted into a wry grin, “I think I can promise that.” At the sight of my timid but friendly smile, he returned it with a quirk of his lips. My gaze flickered to them and then away, mentally cursing at myself for even daring a glance.

He must have registered the quick movement because the next words out of his mouth were, “Well, I have a few more inspections to do, but I doubt they’ll be as exciting as this one.”

Somehow, a chuckle burst from my chest, joined by his own.

“No, they probably won’t be.”

He then pulled a card from his chest pocket, offering it to me, “If you ever have any problems with your fire extinguisher, give me a call. And if you don’t…” his eyes swept over my robed body, “Give me a call anyways.”

I took the card with surprisingly steady fingers, his brushing mine.

“I’ll be sure to do that.” 


	2. Rhysand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy y'all

Summertime in Velaris was hot. Sweltering, humid, no relief to be found, **hot**.

This made it dangerous for the citizens of the city. It was common for our station to be called out on heat exhaustion emergencies. Construction workers, pool patrons, the elderly in their various homes, everyone was subject to the heat of the day.

I woke up ready for more calls to come through until my chief called me into his office.

Today it seemed, I had drawn the short straw and would be doing fire extinguisher inspections at an apartment building at the edge of town. I didn’t mind it too much if it meant that I wouldn’t have to run around answering calls. He gave me a clipboard with the checklist and sent me on my way with an address.

Even though it was just past eight in the morning, the sun was already forcing its heat into the air and ground, turning whatever dew gather overnight into steam. My hair started to curl and dampen in the humidity, sweat beaded on my forehead. I hustled to the subway system, hoping that it would be cool enough there to stave off the oncoming heat.

Two train rides and another sweaty walk later, I was standing outside of the building, double-checking the address. It looked to be about 10 stories high and its once white bricks were stained grey and black from the decades of city pollution. I pressed the button that indicated the landlord for the building and waited. And waited. And waited. I pressed it again, vaguely hoping that he didn’t answer, and I could go get myself a bubble tea from the shop I saw a few blocks away.

Then, through the crackling speakers came a gruff, slightly slurred voice. “Whaddaya want?”

“Hi, sir, I’m here to do the fire extinguisher inspections?” I said bringing out my most polite voice.

The man grumbled something that didn’t make it through the mic and a buzzer sounded, unlocking the door for me.

I pushed past the outer iron door and the interior door to find myself in a dimly lit hallway mostly filled by what I can only describe as a glob of a man. His white wife-beater was stained yellow and brown like he hardly washed it (or changed out of it). Funnily enough, the colors matched his teeth.

“Here’s the apart- _burp­-_ ments that need to be inspected,” he shoved a scrap of paper my way, the scrawl just legible.

I scanned the list, looks like only a dozen or so needed to be done. I flinched back as something silver flew at me, catching me in the shoulder and sliding into my hands.

“There are the keys, everyone is at work, no need to knock,” and then fixing me with a surprisingly intense, bloodshot stare, “Hurry up and get ‘em done, you’re cutting into my TV time.” How me taking the keys so he didn't have to accompany me cut into his TV time, I didn’t know but also didn’t argue with him as I set off to find the first apartment.

The first few were easy, the fire extinguishers either in plain sight or under the sink. I even got to pet a friendly cat which was curious as to what I was doing in their home.

The fifth one on my list changed my life forever.

Unlocking the door, I stepped into an apartment that was _hot_. Cutting a glance over to the window unit, I saw that it was off. Maybe the tenant was trying to save on electric while they were at work.

The second thing I noticed was that any free space in the place was taken up by paintings or painting supplies. Large and small, bright and dark, there were pieces _everywhere_. The few closest to me were of the big park in the middle of the city. I recognized the waterfall that I visited on my days off, it lovingly rendered by a careful hand.

Gorgeous paintings aside, I was resolved to get this one done as fast as possible because the heat in here was starting to get unbearable. Turning, I immediately banged into a table that I didn't see, sending some brushes clattering over each other. _Whoops._ I scooped them up and placed them in their original place before turning to the kitchen to find the fire extinguisher.

That’s when my life went sideways.

_Literally._

One moment I was on my feet and the next I was on the ground with a bruise forming on my side and a battle cry echoing in my ears. Or maybe that was my own scream.

Twisting to see what the fuck just hit me, I froze, every thought in my head eddying out.

A woman just hit me.

A _naked_ woman with wide blue eyes and a _sword_ just hit me and knocked me on my ass.

 _“Fuck.”_ We both said.

She sounded absolutely mortified. At what, I didn’t know because she was _beautiful_. Her body was lithe but not skinny. Curves in all the right places but it was her face that was the true masterpiece.

Graceful cheekbones with adorable freckles sprinkled across. Blue eyes that could have been gray were stretched wide open along with a full mouth that was still parted in horror.

 _Oh_ , maybe she was mortified because she had just attacked someone with a sword while naked. And I was staring like a creep.

That mouth opened and closed, absolutely lost for words.

“Your landlord let me in so I could inspect your fire extinguisher.” _Really? That’s the first thing you say? Not ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘holy shit you’re beautiful’ or LITERALLY ANYTHING ELSE?????_

“Ah,” was all she said in response before disappearing back into what was probably her bedroom.

I almost blurted ‘come back’ but bit down on my tongue to keep the words from escaping. This woman just went through a traumatic experience and didn’t need me acting like a pervert.

Shock still made my limbs numb. Walking into a burning building? No problem. Rescuing a cat from a tree? Easy. Being knocked to the ground by a gorgeous woman with a sword? My inner weeb took control of my body and rendered me useless.

Either seconds or hours later, I still hadn’t moved from the ground when she reappeared, a pale blue robe now covering her and sword nowhere to be seen.

“Sorry about that, my landlord failed to inform me that they would be doing inspections,” gods even her voice was— _stop that!_

“I’m sorry,” came out as an accidental whisper, so I tried again louder with, “He told me that no one was home. I should have knocked.” _No shit, Sherlock._

The woman grimaced, her lovely mouth turning down. “Yeah, he does that sometimes.”

The words exchanged finally shook the rest of my body from its state of shock and I was finally able to stand up. I watched as she scanned my body, reading the look on her face that seemed to be a mixture of appreciation and disbelief.

I blushed at the frank assessment, those blue eyes stripping me down to my core, and turned away. I lifted my hand and scratched the back of my neck. A nervous tick my mother was never able to stop.

“At least take me to dinner first,” I mumbled nearly under my breath, unable to stop the teasing words in hope to lighten the situation.

“Um, sorry?”

 _Probably for the best she didn’t actually hear me say that._ “Where do you keep your fire extinguisher?” That was much safer territory.

“Oh, under the sink,” she led me to her kitchen and bent over to open up the door. My eyes immediately dropped to where the hem of her robe started to rise up before I forced myself to look away and retrieve the clipboard I had dropped. _She’s already been through enough and doesn’t need you staring at her._

I knelt down and took out the fire extinguisher, letting the familiar motions of inspecting it calm my mind and hands.

 _Tick tick tick_ my pen made checkmarks down the list. Everything was in order for her’s, so I finished and stood up.

She met my eyes again and held my gaze.

They were spectacular. Not just blue, but the gray I saw before were flecks of it with a tiny hint of green near the pupil. _Incredible_.

She looked away before I did. I was done and I should have left but something held me there.

“Um, you have a good swing,” trying again to lighten the mood. She was able to put me on my ass with it.

“What? For a girl?” she nearly snapped out. _Shit._

“Oh! Uh, no-no,” I stuttered, cursing myself for the stupid comment. “Just like, in general.” I scratched the back of my neck again. Failed again at trying to be normal.

“Oh,” was all she said, still looking away.

“I’m Rhysand, by the way,” might as well try to be friendly then.

“Feyre. I’m sorry again for… before,” looks like we both were struggling with normalcy but after what happened that was to be expected, I guess.

“For bringing me down with spectacular sword moves?”

She jumped, “Um, yeah.”

“Well, I promise not to tell anyone if you promise not to tell the others at the station, they’d never let me live it down.” Truth. Cas and Az would laugh at me all day and into the night and then bring it up every day after.

She snapped her head to look at me, her gaze searching. After a moment, a small grin twisted her mouth into something pretty, “I think I can promise that.”

I offered a smile of my own, _and then watched her eyes flicker to my mouth and then away. Interesting._

“Well, I have a few more inspections to do, but I doubt they’ll be as exciting as this one.”

She laughed at that, looking surprised as the chuckle slipped out. It sent me laughing as well.

“No, they probably won’t be,” humor tingeing her voice finally.

Something not of my own volition had me pulling my card from my pocket and saying, “If you ever have any problems with your fire extinguisher, give me a call. And if you don’t…” my eyes sweeping over her body again, praying that I had read her looks from earlier right, “Give me a call anyways.”

She took the card, our fingers brushing and sending tingles up my arm.

“I’ll be sure to do that.”

I gave her an unrestrained smile and was glad to see that she returned the same.

And that kids, is how I met your mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I just couldn’t resist the end line despite having never seen the show 😂
> 
> Please check out my other works!

**Author's Note:**

> I’m guessing y’all might want a Rhys POV?


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